Canada's Top Dishes Of 2023 Were Revealed & Some Unexpected Canadian Foods Made The List
With Canada Day right around the corner, you, along with many other Canadians, may be trying to find the most Canuck food to celebrate the big day.
Luckily, recent analysis by Chefs Plate has found some of the most popular Canadian dishes out there, all based on search data from the good ol' internet.
According to their calculations, the number one most searched Canadian food is — as you probably could have guessed — poutine.
There are few dishes in Canadian cuisine that have had as much of an impact as poutine.
It makes sense though. This savoury, comforting pile of fries, cheese curds and gravy will warm you on the coldest Canadian winter days. As one story goes, poutine was invented in Quebec after a customer ordered cheese curds with their fries — the rest is seemingly history!
Number two on the list is another food staple north of the 49th parallel that is also steeped in local history and tradition: bannock.
Bannock, simply put, is a type of fried bread that became incredibly popular with Indigenous communities in Canada. Why? Well, per the Canadian Encyclopedia, when these communities were forced onto reservations by the Canadian government, their traditional ways of finding and sourcing food were disrupted.
This meant they had to rely on rations of flour, lard and eggs to get by, which eventually led to the popularity of bannock, which is made with these and other simple ingredients.
If you're after a sweet treat, you can opt for the third option on this list, the Nanaimo bar. This confection popped up on the west coast in the early to mid-20th century, according to the city of Nanaimo, B.C., which ought to know something about it. The Nanaimo bar is a no-bake dessert of chocolate, icing and a crumbly, buttery base. It's among the most famous Canadian treats out there!
Other expected inclusions on the list were BeaverTails (#4), butter tarts (#5), tourtiere (#7) and the Montreal smoked meat sandwich (#12).
As for the unexpected additions, you might not have known that the Caesar (the drink, not the salad) is a Canadian invention.
That's right! Coming in at number six on the list is that tomato-y, clammy, vodka-based cocktail that actually, believe it or not, started in Calgary, according to the city's tourism board. Invented along with the opening of a new Italian restaurant in 1969, the Caesar has since become one of the signature Canadian cocktails — in fact, it's Canada's official national cocktail.
Another surprise on the list was the inclusion of the lobster roll at number 11, a dish that was likely invented south of the border but has become a staple along Canada's East Coast.
The always-missed Tim Hortons Dutchie also placed on the list at number 10, preceded by the Quebecois classic split pea soup, which was in the ninth spot.
More regional food items also made the list, such as peameal bacon (#7), saskatoon berry pie (#12) and grilled oysters (#14), the last of which seems more generally North American than specifically Canadian.
And of course, the list wouldn't be complete without one maple item, with "maple syrup pancakes" grabbing the fourteenth spot.
